[168] Silver--was paid with brass--_Agentum aere solutum est_. Thus a _sestertius_, which was of silver, and was worth four _asses_, was paid with one _as_, which was of brass; or _the fourth part only of the debt was paid_. See Plin. H. N. xxxiii. 3; and Velleius Paterculus, ii. 23; who says, _quadrantem solvi_, that _a quarter_ of their debts were paid by the debtors, by a law of Valerius Flaccus, when he became consul on the death of Marius. [169] Often--have the commonalty--seceded, etc.--"This happened three times: 1. To the Mons Sacer, on account of debt; Liv. ii. 32. 2. To the Aventine, and thence to the Mons Sacer, through the tyranny of Appius Claudius, the decemvir; Liv. iii. 50. 3. To the Janiculum, on account of debt; Liv. Epist. xi." _Bernouf_. [170] XXXIV. That such had always been the kindness, etc.--_Ea, mansuetudine atque misericordia senatum populumque Romanum, semper fuisse._ "That the senate, etc., had always been of such kindness." I have deserted the Latin for the English idiom. [171] XXXV. The commencement of this letter is different in different editions. In Havercamp it stands thus: _Egregiatua fides, re cognita, grata mihi, magnis in meis periculis, fiduciam commendationi meae tribuit._ Cortius corrected it as follows: _Egregia tua fides, re cognita, gratam in magnis periculis fiduciam commendationi meae tribuit._ Cortius's reading has been adopted by Kritzius, Bernouf, and most other editors. Gerlach and Dietsch have recalled the old text. That Cortius's is the better; few will deny; for it can hardly be supposed that Sallust used _mihi, meis_, and _meae_ in such close succession. Some, however, as Rupertus and Gerlach, defend Havercamp's text, by asserting, from the phrase _earum exemplam infra scriptum,_ that this is a true copy of the letter, and that the style is, therefore, not Sallust's, but Catiline's. But such an opinion is sufficiently refuted by Cortius, whose remarks I will transcribe: "Rupertus," says he, "quod in promptu erat, Catilinae culpam tribuit, qui non eo, quo Crispus, stilo scripserit. Sed cur oratio ejus tam apta et composita suprà, c. 20 refertur? At, inquis, hic ipsum litterarum exemplum exhibetur. At vide mihi exemplum litterarum Lentuli, c. 44; et lege Ciceronem, qui idem exhibet, et senties sensum magis quam verba referri. Quare inanis haec quidem excusatio." Yet it is not to be denied that _grata mihi_ is the reading of all the manuscripts. [172] Known--by experience.--_Re cognita._ "Cognita" be it observed, _tironum gratia,_ is the nominative case. "Catiline had experienced the friendship of Catulus in his affair with Fabia Terentia; for it was by his means that he escaped when he was brought to trial, as is related by Orosius." _Bernouf._ [173] Recommendation--_Commendationi._ His recommendation of his affairs, and of Orestilla, to the care of Catulus.